Miraculous cure of girl who fell four stories paves way for beatification of Spanish foundress

Madrid, Spain, Jan 29, 2007 / 12:37 pm (CNA).- The diocesan phase of the investigation into the miraculous healing attributed to the intercession of Spanish foundress Blessed Dolores Sopeña has reached its conclusion. The miracle under study was that of a young girl who was inexplicably cured after falling from a fourth-story window.

The girl, identified as Dayanna Cantos, suffered “serious head trauma” from the fall and was in a deep coma with little chance of survival, doctors said.

Nuns from Blessed Sopeña’s congregation who knew Dayanna suggested to her mother she touch the girl with a relic of the Spanish nun and that they would pray a novena asking for her intercession. A few days later the girl emerged from the coma to the shock of her doctors.

This year the diocesan tribunal responsible for investigating the incident collected evidence and testimonies from the doctors, nurses and health care workers that cared for Dayanna, both at the time of the accident and during her recovery. Now the results will be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Maria Dolores Rodriguez Sopeña was born in Velez Rubio, Spain, on December 30, 1848, and was the fourth of seven siblings. Because of her father’s career, the family moved to different cities and even spent a few years in Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Maria Dolores was known for her piety and devotion to those in need.

In Cuba she worked with the poor and founded the “Centers of Instruction” which offered Catechism classes, cultural instruction, and even medical care. The work inspired many to collaborate with her in the founding of three such centers in Cuba.

After her mother died in Cuba, her father retired and took the family back to Madrid in 1877. There she dedicated herself to caring for her home and her father, her work with the poor, and her spiritual life. She found a spiritual director and began to make the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius each year.

At the suggestion of the bishop of Madrid, in 1892 she founded an association known today as the “Sopeña Lay Movement.” She went to on establish other centers for the poor and working class people. In 1914 she founded a congregation of catechists.